Nokia CEO slams own company

Stephen Elop castigates mobile firm for losing ground to the iPhone and Android

Following Nokia's mixed full-year results, the mobile company's CEO, Stephen Elop, has likened its position to that of a man "standing on a burning platform".

The comment was made in a memo to all staff, which was leaked and subsequently reported by Engadget.

In the memo, Elop makes reference to Nokia's deficiency in the high-end smartphone range.

"The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience.

"Android came on the scene just over two years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable," said Elop in the memo.

Elop added that his organisation must "change [its] behaviour" to deal with these threats.

One of his suggestions was to adopt the Android or Windows Phone 7 platforms, since he explains that Symbian, the company's own mid-range platform, is not able to compete at the high end: "Symbian is proving to be an increasingly difficult environment in which to develop to meet the continuously expanding consumer requirements."

He also voiced concerns over the company's agility and speed to market when compared with competitors such as Google with its Android platform and Apple, stating: "We have some brilliant sources of innovation inside Nokia, but we are not bringing [our products] to market fast enough."

Elop was tasked with shaking up Nokia when he joined the company in late 2010 from Microsoft, where he was head of its business division.